Hot Shooting Bullets Down Spartans in Non-Conference Tilt

Nov 27, 2011

YORK, PA – The Gettysburg College Bullets used 63.6% shooting from the floor to hand the York College Spartans a 64-59 defeat in a non-conference men's basketball game in York, PA on Sunday. The Spartans fall to 3-2 overall while the Bullets improve to 3-2 as they have won three straight.

The game was a defensive battle from the start as York led just 8-6 over five minutes into the game. The Bullets scored ten of the game's next 12 points over a four minute stretch as they led 16-10 just over midway through the opening half.

The Spartans battled back to take a 20-18 lead on a pair of Julian Watson free throws with 4:50 remaining in the stanza. However, the Bullets ripped off a 13-2 run to end the half as they went to the break with 31-22 lead. The Bullets' half-ending run was powered by freshman Joe Emerusabe who scored nine of the 13 points on the spurt.

Gettysburg tallied the two of the first three baskets of the half as they led 35-24 just over two minutes into the half. The Spartans battled back and eventually trimmed to lead to three at 40-37 on a Mo Oursler jumper from right elbow with 11:51 remaining in regulation. The Bullets answered with a 6-0 run courtesy of Brendan Trelease. The senior guard converted a three-point play followed by a triple from the top of the arc as the Bullet lead quickly rebounded back to nine with 10:07 left.

The Gettysburg lead vacillated between four and nine points over the next seven minutes as the Bullets maintained control of the contest. Watson hit a pair of free throws with 2:36 remaining to cut the Gettysburg lead to 54-52. York forced a five-second call on the ensuing inbounds play but Watson was called for a player control foul as the Bullets got the ball back with just under two and a half minutes left. The Bullets got a big back door lay up from Larry Geedey on the possession as the Gettysburg lead doubled to four points. Spartan senior Paul Kouvaris was fouled and nailed both attempts, drawing York to within two at 56-54 with 1:56 showing on the clock.

Gettysburg's Christian Bors then hit two free throws of his own 23 seconds later, pushing the visitors lead back to four at 58-54. York came up empty on their following possession and the Spartans were forced to start fouling. The Bullets cashed in on six straight free throws over the final 40 seconds of the game as they finished with the five-point win.

Emerusabe led all scorers with 20 points for Gettysburg. The freshman guard was 6-for-9 from the floor including 2-for-4 from three. He also drilled all six of his free throw attempts in his 22 minutes of play. Bors added a career-high16 points and four rebounds as the junior center was 6-for-7 from the floor and 4-for-4 from the stripe. Trelease was the third Bullet in the double figures with 15 points.

Kouvaris led the Spartans with 19 points, six rebounds, three blocks shots and a pair of rebounds. Kouvaris was 6-for-10 from the floor and 7-for-9 from the free throw line. Watson added 12 points, three rebounds, two steals and one assist in his 33 minutes of work. Watson was 3-for-5 from the floor while he was also 6-for-6 from the charity stripe. Junior Todd Maciejewski came off the bench to contribute 12 points on 6-of-8 shooting with five offensive rebounds. Maciejewski was 6-for-8 from the floor in the loss. Senior Andrew Pawlyk tied Kouvaris for game-high rebounding honors as he pulled in six caroms to go along with four points.

The Bullets simply didn't miss many shots in the game as they were a blistering 21-for-33 in the game including 4-for-7 (57.1%) from three. Gettysburg was also deadly from the free throw line as they missed just one, going 18-for-19 in the game. The Bullets missed 12 shots in the game and six of those shots were blocked by the Green and White.

York finished the game shooting 43.5% from the floor while they went just 1-for-14 (7.1%) from three. The Spartans also struggled from the free throw line, hitting 18-of-28 (64.3%) for the contest.

The Spartans attempted 13 more shots in the game, due largely to their 14-1 advantage in offensive rebounding. Overall, the Spartans held a 26-21 margin on the glass. The Green and White had 14-second chance points in the game.

The Spartans open their Capital Athletic Conference slate on Wednesday night as they travel to Wesley College to face the Wolverines in their league opener. Tip time from Dover, Delaware is set for 8:00 pm.